A Review of Mandeep Sethi’s Poor Peoples Planet, released January 2011. 
With an unmistakably laid-back, West Coast hip hop sound, 22-year old Sikh rapper Mandeep Sethi brings us the dynamic and often incendiary (while maintaining the mellow Bay area vibes) Poor Peoples Planet. Inspired by the gypsy hip hop teachings of Xitanos Matematikos and the history of gypsies in Punjab, Sethi, a San Francisco-based artist, flows over meditative and at times haunting melodies and samples not typical of a hip hop record.
Embodying the Khalsa spirit, the album (Sethi’s third) begins with a twist on a jakara, with the track, “JahKaRa.” The jakara was originally a revolutionary call and response battle cry—a call to arms in a sense—that is of course used today to end Ardas and in times when we need some extra Guru-inspired enthusiasm and courage. This album’s “JahKaRa” begins in Spanish and flows into Sethi welcoming the listener to “the pueblo” before a series of Punjabi jakaras propels us into the experience of Poor Peoples Planet.
[Moving Swiftly::][GuerillaTactics][POORPEOPLESPLANET by Mandeep Sethi
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PUZZL3PEACE is the alias of Los Angeles born Sikh artist Jusdeep Singh Sethi, who passed away last year in a tragic accident at the 
age of 21. Jusdeep, the younger brother of hip hop artist Mandeep Sethi, used 35mm film photography as his primary means of creative expression. He was known for his deep love of and connection to nature and planned to go to school to study naturopathy and holistic healing.Â
According to Jusdeep’s tribute website:
Jusdeep recognized Mother Earth as his foremost teacher, while continuously giving praise to the most high divine spirit. He was never too proud to ask questions, working daily to diminish his own ego in order to learn more from those that surrounded him.
Jusdeep was a shining free spirit who created music and art with his sitar and film camera, while living a passionate life. Driven by his yearning for social justice and positive change, Jusdeep was also a genuine soldier for the causes. He had the power to light up a room with a smile and embodied the kind of energy that was delightfully contagious.
If you met Jusdeep even once, you remembered him forever.
Whether you had the privilege of meeting Jusdeep or not (sadly, I never did), his family and community are putting together an event in a few weeks well worth checking out if you’re in southern California. On August 16, 2014, community members, friends and family, and lovers of photography and art will be gathering in Los Angeles for the 1st Annual Puzzl3Peace Photo and Art Exhibition. The event will be a celebration the life and artistic work of Jusdeep and will feature his photos never seen before publicly. There will also be space to express and share memories of Jusdeep’s life, work, and impact on attendees.
According to Jusdeep’s brother, Mandeep, “This event marks a 1 year rotation around the sun since the transition of our young warrior. Jusdeep enshrined a piece of himself with all those he had the chance to share space with. When we collectively align together, we begin to fit together as parts of a larger puzzle. A puzzle that will bring us all Peace.”
Below are all the details. You can RSVP and spread the word on Facebook as well.
Guest blogged: Mewa Singh
From February 16-17, 2013, researchers from throughout the world, focusing on Sikh-related topics, came together at Stanford University for the 4th annual Sikholars Conference, hosted by the Jakara Movement. From Europe to Pakistan, from India to Canada, and throughout the United States, young scholars came together for a weekend of discussion and engagement in a unique forum that connects the academy to the community. Here, I provide here a bit of a recap and encouragement for those that missed this year to make sure you don’t miss Sikholars 2014.
The conference commenced with an opening address by Professor Thomas Blom Hansen. The director of Stanford University’s Center for South Asia welcomed the audience and shared his excitement for a new partnership between the Jakara Movement and the Center for South Asia in years to come in hosting the Sikholars Conference.  Next followed a lecture by Professor Linda Hess, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Bhagat Kabir Ji.
As a community, we have an incredibly rich history and yet we often know so little about it. The first time I learned about the Sikligar community was after watching Mandeep Sethi’s documentary at a local film festival, about this community of Sikhs known to be the weapon makers of the Khalsa army. Unfortunately, very little is known about the Sikligars by those living both within and outside of India and Mandeep’s film will be a first glimpse into the community for many. The Sikligars are found across India – displaced through years of colonization and government oppression. It is known that the community was given the name Sikligar by the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and yet even this honor has not prevented the community from struggling – Sikligars now live in extreme poverty in the slums of Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra. There are also encampments in Punjab. Although this community has been largely illiterate for the last 300 years (focusing on their trade and thus livelihood), the Sikligars are beginning to empower themselves through different means such as education. For the first time, the full length documentary is available online! Over the past few months, I’ve joined Mandeep at several film screenings of his documentary and I’ve asked him some questions about SIKLIGAR which you can find after the jump.
The use of social video sites by our community has seen an upward trend. Of course, many readers of this blog will instantly recognize individuals that have emerged in the last two to three years using YouTube and other social media sites – Mandeep Sethi, Humble the Poet, JusReign, and IISuperwomanII are but a few of the commonly recognized names from North America alone.
As it becomes more accessible, we are also seeing the emergence of more grassroots-level use of social video. This medium has allowed Sikhs, and particularly Sikh youth, to express themselves to an unprecedented audience size, and there are several organizations encouraging Sikhs to make use of this platform. For example, SikhNet has been running their Youth Online Film Festival since 2006, and the Sikh Coalition is also holding their third annual Diversity Video Competition for its third consecutive year.
Recently, Manbeena Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s Education Director, was good enough to answer some questions about the use of social video for the purposes of Sikh education and awareness.
WARNING: This is long!
Last week, the Punjab election results surprised many. Most pundits had believed the cycle of anti-incumbency would continue and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) would fall to the Congress Party, under Captain Amrinder Singh’s leadership. The results were stunning and after the final count the Akali Dal (56) combined with the BJP (12) had a majority (68) of the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Congress Party had finished with a dismal 46 and 3 seats were claimed by Independents. The much-heralded (at least in the diaspora and on the internet) Punjab People’s Party of Manpreet Badal finished even worse than expected, with the main leader himself finishing in 3rd place in the two constituencies he contested.
Now the debate has shifted to making sense of the elections. In the diaspora, laments such as that of my fellow langa(w)riter decrying corruption and the social ills that have been broadcasted – farmer suicides, drug addiction, etc. Writers in Punjab, such as Yadvinder Curfew saw the victory not as that of the Akali Dal-BJP combine, but of a new ‘experiment’ by Sukhbir Badal and the shift in politics from issue based politics to one of media and money. The Badal family has control of both. Friends across social media spaces have provided their own analysis – from the business classes aligning with Sukhbir now that the populism of his father is dead [pagh salute @VehlaComrade] to swing voters, especially cash voters (aligning with the ruling AD-B) and ‘educated netizens’ (splitting between PPP and Congress) [pagh salute @askang – not the singer, mind you!] tilting votes in favor of the Akali Dal.
Now I get to add my voice. Hopefully in doing so, it will also help diasporic Sikhs and Punjabis understand the politics of Punjab and understand why seemingly irrational choices (those that everyone knows are corrupt) can still be rational.
I turn to political science explanations, although I am no political scientist, in order to help understand the results and the specificities of the politics of Punjab. I cite some of the most common explanations and offer some rambling comments, criticisms, and reflections. Hopefully in the comments section, you will add yours and we can have a great discussion.
I found this new video that Mandeep Sethi released last month beautiful and inspiring. Shot in London, the young San Francisco-based hip hop artist links up with a dhadi jatha for a freestyle session unlike any other.
I’ve always loved the power, poignancy, and rhythm funkyness of dhadi jathas. Sikh and Punjabi public education through music, in a sense. These same characteristics are at the heart of hip hop and draw many of us to it, including talented artists like Mandeep. As Public Enemy’s Chuck D stated years ago, “Rap is CNN for black people.”
A few years ago, a friend of mine gave a compelling presentation about the parallels between hip hop and dhadi at SikhRI’s Sidak program in San Antonio, TX. Mandeep Sethi was not in the room, but clearly he had the same thought. Hope you enjoy it.
On December 2nd and 3rd, Sikh youth will have the opportunity to participate in a special workshop that will allow them to learn the power of expression and how it can be used to create change in their life and communities. Inquilab: Raising our Voices, organized by The Sikh Coalition and Slumgods, will bring together hip-hop artists, Mandeep Sethi and Selena Dhillon, to work with South Asian youth as a way of encouraging their engagement with expression. Through this participation, youth can learn how to effectively use art to inspire positive change within their own communities.
Following the workshop this weekend is Lahir – an event that aims to inspire, educate and awaken the community to rebuild the panth and encourage youth to become activists. The concert will provide a much-needed platform for powerful Sikh artists to express themselves through music, art, film, and poetry. Some more information from the organizers:
In past years, Lahir’s central theme focused on 1984 and Punjab. This year, Lahir 2011 will be “Bringing Sikhi Back”. Ten years post 9/11, it’s time to stand up as individuals and as a community to begin to shape the next ten years. Join us for an evening of spoken work, music, poetry and the arts to reflect and reenergize to ensure a future of chardi kala! This year, all proceeds will go to the Saanjh Sikh Youth Scholarship. We need strong voices in our community and we need diverse voices to help us educate others and ourselves about the historical, political, social, and economic issues that affect our community. Therefore, this event is not just for us, but for our future.
Inquilab will take place on December 2nd and 3rd 2011 at South Asian Youth Action Inc | 5405 Seabury St, Elmhurst, NY.
Lahir will take place on December 3rd 2011 at Rutgers University
We encourage you to learn more about these events, and if you are in the area – please attend and let us know how it goes!
It’s that time of year again!
For those Southern California natives, you (hopefully) know it rolls around once every year. This year, SikhLens is proud to announce its annual Sikh Arts and Film Festival to be held November 18th – 20th, 2011 at the prestigious Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California. As avid supporters of Sikh Arts, and creativity in general, I am hoping our readers would be especially interested in this event coming up in the next couple of weeks.
The Sikh Arts and Film Festival serves as a central venue for artists to showcase and share Sikh heritage and culturethrough the mediums of film, literature, art, music, social media and fashion. As an often-misidentified minority, this type of forum has proven to be essential for Sikhs to transcend cultural boundaries, generate awareness, and connect with the broader community.
For tickets, scheduling and more information, visit www.sikhlens.com.
Last month our friends over at Sepia Mutiny posted an interview with Montreal-based hip hop producer Sikh Knowledge, which I think many TLH readers will find of interest. Sikh Knowledge aka Kanwar Anit Singh Saini has worked with many favorite Sikh hip hop artists including Humble the Poet, Mandeep Sethi, and Hoodini and breaks stereotypes right and left as he carves out his own path.
[W]hat really made an impression on me was Sikh Knowledge’s confidence in pursuing his life. At the age of 20, he decided to stop being what other people wanted him to be, dropped out of engineering school and re-started honestly. “I dropped out, came out, and rearranged my whole life,” he stated. “I reapplied and did my undergraduate degree in music with a minor in linguistics. It was the happiest time of my life. I felt good about the decisions that I made.” He’s currently pursuing his Master degree in speech language pathology while having the dual career of mixing some of the ill-est beats in North America.
You read right, Sikh Knowledge is an out and gay hip hop tattooed turban wearing artist. “I’ve definitely lost friends along the way,” he said. “Working relationships have gone sour. But at the end of the day, those artists that choose to work with me… not because of how I can brag, but because of what I do. They’re working with an underdog. That just proves to me that I’ve got something to offer.”
“As an out hip hop, dancehall artist,” he continued. “…people hear the music first and then they reach out to me and we make tracks. Subsequent to that if they find out if I’m gay, my philosophy is that’s their problem. It’s not something I wear on my sleeve but I don’t hide it either.”
So, in the new year we’ll be bringing about some changes to TLH and we hope that one of these changes will be a better way of highlighting events happening in and around North America.
In the meantime, for our California Langar Hall family, you can catch Sikh Knowledge + Mandeep Sethi + Humble the Poet + Hoodini & King! + Povan Beats + Baagi + Push at Sol Collective on December 22nd starting at 9pm. The event will be hosted by the very funny AKA Amazing.
Please view the facebook event page here and a video below highlighting many of these artists. The video is filmed by the very talented, Digitology.
I recently got turned on to this band BlackMahal from the San Francisco area, fronted by the legendary dholi Ustad Lal Singh Bhatti.
According to the band’s website, “BlackMahal is steeped in Old California, a Punjabi-American experience that started in the 1890s when the first Punjabi-Americans settled in the Great West and forged a new identity combining elements of Mexican and African-American influence. BlackMahal also represents the new California feel: hippy hybrid hip-hop and hysterical hi-jinks. ”
The band also features the talented and righteous Sikh rapper Mandeep Sethi.
Though Sikhs have settled all around the world, roughly 20 million Sikhs still reside in Punjab. There, and elsewhere, Sikhs are facing serious problems including, but not limited to: farmer suicide, female infanticide, drugs and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, economic disasters, disease, poverty, illiteracy, and much more. [Lahir Press Release]
Many of my most recent posts have been about upcoming events happening in the Sikh Community. I think this is a positive sign – that rather than idly discussing and debating issues that inflict our panth, we are actually doing something about it! I would like to highlight two upcoming events occurring in North America. These platforms will bring together talented youth to raise awareness and by doing so, will aim to address important issues within our community. Please support these endeavors so that we can continue to move our panth in the right direction.
Lahir: Save Punjab. Save Ourselves | New Jersey | November 20th | 6pm
Lahir: Move the Movement 2010 is a night of spoken word, poetry, music, and the arts. Artists will include G.N.E., Hoodini, Mandeep Sethi, Gunjiv “Baagi” Singh, MC G-Singh and Humble the Poet. The event will kickoff the movement to respect and protect Punjab by donating all profits to the Baba Nanak Education Society (BNES), an organization which provides humanitarian assistance in rural Punjab to next of kin of suicide victims. These are families with small children left completely destitute by the death of bread-winners and have been neglected by the government. A donation of approximately $350 can help support one family for a year. For more information, visit the facebook page.
For those of you who will be in or around Northern California [actually, if you’re in or around North America you should come!] be sure to check out this upcoming event featuring Humble the Poet, Mandeep Sethi, Hoodini, Baagi Gunjiv, DJ Rav-E and more.
This is the first event of its kind in the U.S. (we usually are envious about these events when they happen in Canada!). The show will bring together these artists for, what promises to be, a legendary event.
::Slumgods.com Presents::
Humble the Poet VS Mandeep Sethi
::Live Beats::
::Special Guests::
Hoodini & KinG! + Baagi Gunjiv
::Gully Poetry by::
Sasa [Sick Spits]
::Holding Down the Cuts::
The event will be taking place on SUNDAY AUGUST 29TH from 7-11pm at Sol Collective/2574 21st St/Sacramento, CA 95818
Below the jump you can preview Mandeep Sethi and Hoodini&KinG!
Here on TLH, we’ve covered a variety of talented musicians including Sikh Knowledge, Mandeep Sethi and Humble the Poet. We’ve been following these individuals, their music, new collaborations and of course new albums. I am a huge believer that youth (yes, we have a particular interest in Sikh youth here in TLH) should be encouraged to pursue their talents regardless of what may be expected of us. These musicians are doing just that – and they are creating incredible music that speaks to the masses.
This post is for Hoodini & KinG. I have to say Hoodini is one my favourites. Not only is he extremely talented (listen to track 6/Keep it Rollin’ and track 10/Til I’m Through of the mixtape) but he’s a nice guy (a really nice guy)… and the kid has serious style. It’s like he knows he’s going to make a mark on the world, and is dressed for the occasion…
So i didn’t mean to just mention this mixtape in passing – you really have to download and listen to it yourself. It is a really dynamic piece of work. Hoodini & KinG! Present: A California Classic, is available here. While Hoodini is the emcee, the album was produced by KinG! né Keith Rice – a 21 year old producer from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles (he’s really really talented). Even though the two went to different high schools, their mutual love of hip-hop was destined to bring their forces together so that they could make music that would “make people fall in love again.”
I asked Hoodini what inspires him and what he told me was this,
Last year, Maple Leaf Sikh highlighted a revolutionary event which occurred in Toronto and brought together young Sikhs to pay homage to 1984. The event, hosted by the Sikh Activist Network, returns this year and brings together artists such as Hoodini, Mandeep Sethi, Selena Dhillon and Yudh Gatka Akhara and more. For those of you who are dealing with post-Sikh-conference-blues – When Lions Roar II promises to be yet another excellent event bringing together Sikh youth in an impactful way.
A Night of Hip Hop, Poetry, Spoken Word, Gatka and More…
To Remember 1984
Friday June 25
Mirage Banquet Hall
Admission: Pay What You Can
All Ages – Doors Open at 6pm
While everyone seems to be pretty excited about Kamaljit topping the Billboard charts – it seems that Jay Sean is not the only musician from our community who is gaining a ton of attention lately. In the October/November 2009 issue of East West magazine, an article by Navdeep Singh Dhillon titled, “The Brown Underground” discusses the five new names in hip-hop worth knowing. While on TLH we have featured these names in previous posts and are fans of their work – we wanted to highlight this new article as it provides a very intimate look at these artists. Musicians, rappers, emcees or whatever you may call them – they, at the end of the day, are regular guys (believe me, they are). They work, they go to school, they feel strongly about adversities that are going on all over the world. Unlike many, however, they are using their talent to channel that emotion into creativity and into their music. We definitely like what we’re hearing and whether they know it or not, these artists are paving a path for generations to come.
The article highlights the work of Canadian-based Humble the Poet and Sikh Knowledge, D.C.-based Saint Soulja of G.N.E., Hoodini from Los Angeles and Mandeep Sethi from San Francisco. You can read about their quest into this industry and how being a Sikh plays a role (or does not) in their music. What’s clear about these artists is that while they are Sikh, they don’t necessarily only rap about Sikh issues or only about issues affecting our community and that’s what makes them stand out in my mind. Injustice to any group is an injustice to humanity and as Sikhs, that is something we should resist. We can rest assured that these artists are having that dialogue.
I know I have been posting about it much lately, but as full disclosure compels, I have helped with the organization in the past. A few weeks ago I posted about this weekend When Lions Roar in Toronto and Vancouver. It seems in the wake we have something in the making in Central California, Fresno. For regular readers of The Langar Hall, you’ve been introduced to the talents and music of Sikh Knowledge, Humble the Poet, GNE’s Saint Soulja, and even Mandeep Sethi. As a side note, Mandeep has the most amazing track I have ever heard by a hip-hop artist on 1984. Make sure to check it out.
This month they will all be attending, participating, and performing at the Jakara Movement’s annual conference. With few seats left and this major addition, you will not want to miss this year’s conference as we come together to “Remember 1984.” The dates are June 18-21, 2009. Register TODAY to avoid a late fee. See you in Fresno.
Sometimes (or may be it more often), you read an article that just doesn’t seem to make any sense. My google newsfeeder caught on such article titled: Sikh youth moving away from teachings of Sikhism. The author of the article Harleen Kaur seems to be at all places at once, reporting stories on Chandigarh, Malaysia, Leicester, and New York all on the same day. It does raise eyebrows into the type of reportage it can claim.
The story reports:
The young Sikhs seem to be moving away from the teachings of Sikhism largely due to lack of knowledge and faith in their culture and religion.
Hardly anything surprising there. Sikhs have been saying that for years.
The article is trying to promote the Sikh Naujawan Sabha’s Vaisakhi-fest, but some of the analysis seems off, even bordering on the absurd:
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is a group working to present stories that convey the “richness and diversity of Asian American experiences” to the broadcast audience. They do this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media. One example is this video directed for Mandeep Sethi, a bay area MC. As he says, Where do we go from here, I thought my people would be proud of their heritage and instead they want to bury it.
Also presented by the Center, is the upcoming 27th Asian American Film Festival in San Francisco. For those of you in the area, here are some of the films you might want to catch.
